Lessons from Gothenburg, Sweden

Wow, there sure are a lot of bicycle commuters in Stockholm. We saw suits, grandmothers, clerks and even a few eco-athletic types starting their day in the bike lane. They dominated the road!

We woke early to catch the train from Stockholm to Gothenburg (on the West Coast of Sweden) -- but not early enough. It turns out that 9:15 am was the train's arrival time, not the departure time (which was really at 6:05 am). Oops.

So we get to the Central Station in plenty of time to find out that we are three hours late. Mark gets us space on a local headed the same way. So instead of the supercool hi-speed train called the X-2000 that we were supposed to ride, we get the 5-hour scenic tour. Here's a little visual for you:

One train is cool. The other is not. We rode the train on the left.

We soon found there are benefits to the local. Specifically, the familjevagn:


Our ticket shows that we are in the Familjevagn car, especially for people traveling with children!

The next five hours pass quickly:


The front of the car had a playgym where Kobi met lots of Swedish kids en route to Gothenburg.

Here's one of the other Familjevagn parents leaving the train with their little one...


Gothenburg is a great city -- I'll be posting some photos of some of the city comforts we saw today...as soon as I can!